Balon Rener
by TriCraftFtw
Summary: Balon Rener is a Guardian that was part of the Crota Raid Team, he has since then become traumatized and now lives in Old Russia, away from the Tower and the Vanguard. However a mysterious occurrence on Earth may cause him to have to work with them again to defend the Planet and the City.
1. Revelations

_It was a long and cold winter, yet at the end he was still left standing._

Balon Rener was a young looking guardian, short orange hair, green eyes, and a British accent, or what was British until the European continent had been declared a dead zone, only allowing guardian's in for crucible events. _Crucible_ he thought, _It certainly has been a few years since I've participated there_. After more and more guardians had grown stronger and mastered the crucible, he found it pointless to train there and grow. Instead he had ventured into the wilderness of Russia, only seeing other guardians every few weeks patrolling. He had rarely ever seen Taken, after the fireteam of 6 had went into Oryx's ascendant realm and slain Oryx himself, they were rare and almost extinct. Even the Hive had been thinning out as of late, after the Siva incident had plagued Russia the Fallen had almost annihilated the Hive on Earth, they were scared and had entered hiding to avoid the guardians and Siva.


	2. Thoren Mountain

He was currently in his campsite up on Thoren Mountain in a cave, it wasn't named that on any of the Tower's records but he had claimed it for himself and named it in honour of his Father. _I still remember that day, when he had told me he was going on a simple patrol near the cosmodrome, that was the day that the Hive invaded_. He shivered at that thought, knowing that at any day even the Vex could invade suddenly, if they did then he doubted even the Vanguard could stop them. Spring was coming and he knew that would mean more Fallen would be out, even the darkness gets cold. He gazed to the entrance of the cave that he was currently in and saw that the sun was setting. He activated the stealth drive that he had got from Rasputin in an earlier mission to cloak the entrance and went to sleep. A loud bang in the distance woke him up, he quickly got to his feet and checked the camera's along the mountain, whatever that bang was it wasn't near his territory so he decided that it would be alright to investigate no further. He gathered his things and food for the day and put it in his bag on his cloak. While most guardians would have had it transmatted by their ghosts, his had died a long time ago. _Remind me never to drive an interceptor again._ He thought to himself as he left his cave and started his hour long trek down the mountain range to the flatlands.


	3. Ikora Rey

The day hadn't contained any new discoveries or even events happening, no Fallen anywhere, just as he had started back up the climb to Thoren Mountain a familiar voice had spoken above him. "How do Balon"? A female voice spoke out softly. " Been a while since I've seen you around the city" she continued, "You know my opinions on the place and how it's run, Ikora". Ikora Rey was the Warlock Vanguard in the tower and was my favourite of the 3. She's hard, intellectual and understanding. I hadn't seen her for over 3 months and I was planning on never coming back to the tower unless I was needed or I needed them. "You know that people in the tower still don't know where you are, right?" She stated as more of a statement then a question. "I personally don't care whether they know where I am or not, just as long as they leave me alone." I responded slightly annoyed. "Well they're starting to wonder where I go during these 'outings' of mine, I can't keep doing these to check if your alive." She said as she moved closer to me. "Then why don't you stop visiting, why do you even care if I'm alive or not?" I asked more seriously. "Because you're different from the rest of the Guardian's, and you helped Eris when she needed you, volunteering for that raid team to destroy Crota, that bravery is invaluable." _Crota, the things he saw down there could never be taken back, after all his years of being a Guardian he had never witnessed something so disturbing, he vowed never again to be on a raid team._ "That was only because of my Father, not her." I responded coldly. "Well your skills still set you apart from all the other Guardians, you have the strength of a Titan, the precision of a Hunter, and the intelligence of a Warlock, I don't even know what class you are, no one does." She stated with a slight hint of desperation in her voice. "There's a reason for that, you can't be labeled base on what you are, it's **Who** you are." I stated. "Please just consider coming back to the Last City, your mother is getti-" "You SPOKE to my MOTHER?!" He shouted at her. "I thought I told you to stay away from her, she's dead to me now, and she always will be." _After the collapse had happened my Exo Mother had sold my body to the speaker to be bathed in light and brought back alive as a Guardian, I took my own life for a reason then and now the light prevents me from doing it again._ "I'm sorry I just thought things might have changed-", "WELL THEY HAVEN'T SO LEAVE ME BE IKORA!" He shouted and retreaded up the mountain. _I have only 3 people I can trust, and I may have just lost one. Ikora, Eris, and My Brother Kaner._ "I haven't seen him in 3 years, right before I left for the pit. I still don't know where he is." He said to himself quietly and shakily. He made his way up the last stretch of the mountain and entered his cave, he looked at the entrance one last time then activated the stealth drive. _That night I dreamt of those pits, and the songs sung by the Death singers and how I almost heard it's entirety. Thanks to one of my raid team members for shooting that Gjallarhorn rocket right before the song was completed._


	4. Stranger

_I woke up again to a loud bang. 2 times in a row, wow the Fallen are getting active._ He was still tired and stumbled his way over to the entrance of the cave, grabbing his trusty sidearm "Revolution's End". He carefully walked to the entrance and deactivated the stealth drive. Nothing but a Slap rifle from a Vex Goblin. Wait, how did a Slap rifle end up here? Did a Guardian transmat one out of Venus and left it here? Or maybe the Fallen gave up trying to work their weaponry and dumped it. Either way he took it inside and ignored it. He packed his things and set down the mountain. He was nearing the bottom before he saw a campfire and a Exo with a strange rifle next to her. He briefly considered that she could be a threat and decided to just introduce himself. "Hi there, don't usually see Guardian's around these parts. Who are you?" He asked. "I don't believe you should be concerned about who I am, and more so why I am here." She stated, expression unchanging. "I'm sorry but I'm a tiny bit confused as to what you're going on about Guardian-". "Let me tell you this once, I am not bathed in the light of the Traveller and am not a Guardian, you however are, but where's your ghost?" She questioned. "I lost it to a driving incident 2 years back, can't rely on a resurrection no more, I have 1 shot and I'm not messing it up." He replied. "Interesting, were getting sidetracked and I need to inform you of something because I know you can act on it." She stated. "What is it that you need to tell me?" He asked not caring how she knows he can act on this. "I suspect that the Vex may be on Earth and we haven't got much time before they invade." She told him. "And why do you suspect that, if you believe you know they are then why don't you tell me why you think this?" He responded seriously. "I can do much better then tell you Balon." She said. _How does she know my name?_ He thought to himself. "Fine then show me" He replied. "It's around an hour trek from here, can you make it?" She questioned. "Of course I can, especially if this could mean the Vex are on Earth." He stated as they began the trek across the barren landscape.


	5. Questions But Not All Answers

"So, how do you know me?" I questioned as we were walking to our unknown location. "Let's just say that I tend to pay attention to God slayers such as yourself." She responded. "But I still don't understand, if you wanted someone to deal with the Vex then why don't you get someone from the Raid Team going into the Vault of Glass?" He questioned. "I had attempted yet they were under heavy guard and could not be reached in private." She responded. "So you think it would be better to get someone from a Hive raid team?" He asked. "It's more than that, you know teamwork and can do some incredible things with your light." She continued "However you seem to have abilities from every class of Guardian's." She responded inquisitively. "Something happened when I was given the light. My mind and body took on transformations of all classes. I was considered a blessing to the world, the supposed first ever." He answered. "Interesting a Guardian gifted with such powerful light that they have the capacity to wield 9 subclasses and actively switch between them within a moment's notice." She stated more so to herself. "I don't know if I would call that a 'Gift' but they treated me like it. Almost never let me leave the tower for outings." He said. "So then why did they allow you out for the Crota Raid?" She questioned. "They didn't I met Eris and the rest of the team at 2 in the morning just outside the wall." He answered. "Why did she pick you though, surely she knew it was a risk for the team and you weren't as trained back then." She questioned and pointed out. "Because she knew of my personal vendetta against the Hive." He responded.


	6. The Fallen Attack

We were now nearing the location, it was a large cave in the side of the mountains that looked very ominous. "So is this it?" He questioned. "Yep, seems a lot bigger then it is on the inside." She replied. They walked forward carefully just in case any Fallen were to be nearby."How did you find this place?" He questioned. "Luck, and a tip off by one of the Awoken." She replied bluntly. "So do you mean to say that the Awoken know more than we do about our own planet?" He questioned. "No but the Queen had very interesting powers and shared her knowledge with the Awoken in confidence they would keep it a secret, good thing half of them love glimmer." She stated with a chuckle. _This Exo Woman is a very interesting character. I like her, cold but still fighting for something._ The cave was just like she described, very deceptive, looks big outside but is a lot smaller inside. We were walking into the cave when we heard a noise outside, before he even had turned he heard the Woman shout that there were Fallen, we quickly got inside the cave and took cover. He grabbed my Scout Rifle 'The Dawnbreaking Moon' from my back and quickly took aim at the fallen. After what felt like an eternity but was actually 25 minutes the Fallen were killed, He had taken a few hits but was otherwise fine. The Exo was very skilled with a gun and could even generate Incendiary Grenades even though she wasn't blessed in the light. "So, you are capable of handling yourself I see, might have to recruit you after this." She stated impressed. "Same for you, and what did you mean by 'Recruit'?" He asked curiously. "I'll tell you later." _Are there more of them, maybe that explains some Guardians disappearances._


	7. And So It Begins

The inside of the cave was quite small, the tunnel was very linear and lead to a circular metal door with a spire fully built and emitting light into the door. _This was Vex technology on Earth_. "Wait, if this is Vex technology then why haven't any other Guardian's came here and seen this?" He questioned. "It's because this just arrived. The Vex travelled back in time before Humans were here. Just like they did on Venus." She responded quite fast for some reason. "So then how long do we have?" He questioned. "As long as the Vex will give us, they do have all the time in the world after all." She responded. _So basically we are all dead. Game over, the darkness will win because of the time travel of the Vex. This is so unfair._ He thought. "I believe that there is a way to stop them." She stated. "How?" he questioned. "If we travel back to when the Vex built this then we could destroy it. Of course they will try to build another one but it will buy us a bit of time." She said. "Ok so who goes through?" he questioned. "I will, you need to go tell the Vanguard." She said. "No, you aren't going in there alone." He said sternly. " Please, I have much more experience with the Vex then you do, and you can actually get the Vanguard to listen to you." She pointed out. "If I find you dead in there then I will bathe you in light and kill you again." He said. "Fine by me, just make sure to speak at my funeral." She said jokingly. "Ha ha, funny, just try not to let me have to, hey what's your name even?" He questioned. "Maybe you'll find out after we avert this crisis. Maybe not, we will see when we get there." She said with a slight smirk. "Well good luck then, I'll see you soon. Hopefully." He said.


	8. His Inner Demons

_It was a long trek back, no one in sight. Dead silence. I had a long time to think about what may come and has already happened._ He was nearing the wall of the Last City, he needed to tell the Vanguard what he had seen and what could happen if the threat wasn't neutralized. _A day ago I had wondered what would happen if the Vex invaded, now they actually might and I was the only one along with the Stranger who could stop this._ He could see the wall now, only a few miles out. It felt like an eternity since he had left for the city, but he couldn't stop for anything, they were out of time. _Out of time, no going back, but knowing that makes me want to. What if I could go back, to before the collapse, what if none of this happened. But what if something worse could have. Darkness and Light must always be balanced. The stronger one side grows the stronger the other does as well._ _Typical, but a solid metaphor that is true to the universe and it's actions._ On his trip he had seen only one Fallen, and that was a dreg that had been shot by some Guardian's patrolling and was in a dying state, he wanted to feel bad, but at the same time they were the race that had caused so much trouble for the tower and wanted them dead. It wasn't that hard to keep grudges in this world. His mind wandered back to the thought of the Stranger walking in that portal, how calm and collected she was. _How could anyone keep that much composure when they might be walking to their death?_ He had thought. _Might just be wanting to die honourably, I wouldn't judge her for that, not like this world is worth protecting that much. But here I am protecting it again, even after all I've done and I'm still helping._ He seriously had to wonder what made him do all these things for the Vanguard and Citizens of the Last Safe City.


	9. Eris Morn

He had just gotten within a half-mile of the wall and put back on his GPS, this way the Vanguard could recognize who he was and transmat him to the other side of the wall. Almost the moment he turned it on he had been transmatted to the other side and was facing a slim looking Hunter, but she was just big enough to maybe be a Warlock. "Balon Rener, sure has been a while since we last talked." She said facing away from him. "I'm sorry, do you know me?" He questioned. "Yes I do, and I'm sure you will remember me." She said and turned around. "Eris? Why are you at the wall?" He questioned. "I received a tip from a Exo that had said you would be coming here, at this exact time." She stated. "And you just went here, it could have been a SETUP ERIS!" He shouted annoyed with her. "Well I guess the risk was worth it, but we need to talk about your brother, Kaner." She said. "Why, I haven't seen him in 3 years Eris". "That's exactly why, he has been concerned as of late to where you were, and Ikora won't tell him." She responded. "So he went to you to see if you knew where I was?" He said more to himself then Eris. "Yes and at the time I didn't know you were going to be here." She said. "So when did you get the tip, the one that said I would be here?" He questioned. "About 2 hours ago. Why?" She questioned. _Wait if she is talking about the Stranger, then how did she tell her, she's supposed to be in the past right now._ "Oh it doesn't matter, just curious." He stated kind of shook up. "Alright then, just come with me, we need to find your brother." She said as she grabbed my hand. "Eris, I-I'll have to do that later, I need to speak to the Vanguard about a possible threat that concerns the safety of everyo-" He didn't get a chance to finish as Eris quickly spoke up. "Fine, just promise me you will see your brother, he needs to see you, and I'm sure you want to see him." She said. "Thank you Eris, can you transmat us into the Tower from here?" He asked. "Yes Balon I can, before you leave again, I want you to meet me at 12:00 tonight, usual spot." She said. "Ok I'll make it there, might be a bit late but that's expected." He responded. _The usual spot? Did she mean where we met for the… Crota raid?_ He wondered as they were transmatted into the Tower.


	10. That Blue Prick

Everything shifted around him, until he arrived at the balcony of the Tower. This was the common meeting place of Guardians looking to pull off something more complicated, like a raid. After all it was hard to find 5 other willing Guardians who could all meet at the same time. Apparently there was one such group now discussing some raid plans. _Probably for the Cabal._ He thought to himself as they moved on. They were walking down the pathway to the Vanguard Hall when a familiar voice had called him.

It was that blue bastard, Rahool, he was the cryptarch of the Tower and was loved by many and hated by many. Eris sighed and left for the Vanguard Hall. I turned slowly to the right and started to walk towards him. "Balon Rener, it certainly has been quite a while. To what pleasure do we owe for your visit?" Rahool inquired. "I'm not here for you and your scams you blue prick, now please mess off and stop talking to me." He said annoyed. "I never get why you blame me for all those engrams you bring in, it's not my fault that all you find is trash." He responded quite quickly. "Just shut the fuck up you insufferable little bitch." He said as he walked away. Eris was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs "I wasn't aware that you talked like that Balon" She stated amused. "I don't but he's an exception, I sincerely wish him dead." He said with a smug grin on his face. "Just like how I feel about Cayde after my ship was destroyed." She said smugly.

*Author's Note, sorry for the slow update in terms of content and, well to say the least, the lacking of content that I have on this story, this started as a project that I intended to bring only forward a few chapters in order to deal with stress and practice but it has now turned into a commitment that I have been, unfortunately not able to commit to. Keep in mind this does not mean I will stop posting, and I will keep writing this story but just so if anyone is wondering whether or not I am still writing this I am, I try to keep around 5 chapters ahead in case of any fallbacks, next thing is just some clarification that I will now **start** to use paragraph spacing, the way I write is in big blocks in order to actually see how much I have wrote, as well as better distinguish chapters, and for reference anytime the story has italics it is in Balon's thoughts, meaning that it would have to be first person during that, but usually is stated afterwords that "he thought". Finally thanks for actually reading all of this and well also the story so far, I hope to take this far and possibly finish by the end of the school year and start to move onto my next project which is also a Destiny story but focused on a different person dealing with different issues and the Hive race. However that one I will use possible gore in so just be warned. Thank you and have a beautiful day, or night.

*Now go read the actual stories*

-TriCraftFTW


	11. The Vanguard

He had just walked into the Vanguard hall when Zavala had shouted at him. "Balon Rener, you left us 3 years ago and suddenly now you come back, how expendable do you think we are huh? What's wrong with you!?". "Yelling at me won't do anything, plus I didn't abandon you, I simply didn't have a reason to be here and needed to get away. As far as I'm concerned you didn't have the right to keep me here." He fired right back at him. "I don't know about you Zavala but I think Balon is right, we couldn't force him to stay here and he is entitled to leave. Plus he wasn't even on any active mission." Ikora had pointed out. "Fine, you're lucky that you have Ikora on your side Balon, we'll discuss this later. So, why are you here?" Zavala had questioned. "I'm here because I believe that the Vex have made it onto Earth." He said while looking Zavala in the eyes. "If what you're saying is true Balon, then this could mean a full out war, one that would never end until we are defeated." Zavala had said kind of doubtful. "Well they aren't on Earth right now, I discovered a Vex time gate recently and had immediately come here to report it, even 'runaways' like me still care for the greater good you know." He had said with a slight grin on his face. "All by yourself huh? Kinda weird that you would just leave it unguarded. Are you sure you had no help?" Zavala had questioned. "Of course, I haven't seen anyone in a few weeks, I know that I can't handle this issue alone and it concerns all of us." He had replied. "I'll inform Lakshmi-2 and the rest of the Future War Cult, they have been preparing for this for years now. I'll also get my top Warlocks to help research the Vex Timegates." Ikora had said while walking to the entrance of the Vanguard Hall. "I'll get Shiro to pull out of Felwinter's Peak and go with you to the location. You 2 will need to find a way to buy us time, but whatever you do, **don't go into the timegate.** " Cayde had said looking him dead in my eyes. "Why would I do something as stupid as that?" He responded _But I know I will._ He thought.


	12. The Brother

Hi Everyone, just because I'm feeling generous (And I've actually started writing again) I have decided to post 2 separate chapters into 1, enjoy a longer chapter that is still only just above 800 words (I'll learn to write more soon, but don't hold me to that ;) )

It was nearing midnight and Balon had left the Tower and was nearing the wall, it would only be a few minutes now until Eris would be able to detect his GPS and transmat him to the other side of the wall. _Am I ready to see him? What will I say?_ He had thought to himself, starting to slow down realizing that he was for the first time in a while nervous and afraid. _Will he still love me? After I abandoned him?_ He thought slowing down to a crawl, but not literally crawling. But the more and more he wondered, the more he realized that there was only one question dominating his mind, "Am I ready to love someone again?" He had said out loud to no one now entirely stopping momentum, he collapsed to the ground in a wreck and curled up, he wasn't crying but… he was near. _Why is this so hard for me? Why can't I just see him and act normal?_ He thought in his mind, now entirely overcome by his inner demons, his emotions pulling slowly to insanity as visions of his past started to flow through his mind. There was one vision in particular that hasn't surfaced in a long time, his sister the one who had died in front of his face back before he was a Guardian. This thought made him entirely lose it and he was now fully crying, something which he thought would never happen again, after everything, he thought he couldn't get broken again, clearly he was wrong.

The transmat went smooth and almost instantaneously he was on the other side of the wall now facing Eris, and… his brother Kaner. Eris was the first to speak up, "I'm glad you showed up, I was beginning to worry you weren't going to." She had said. "Yea forgot one of my guns in the tower, had to go back quickly to get it." He had lied. "That's fine, you showed up which is all that matters." Eris had said. "I guess you two can handle yourselves, I'll be on the other side of the wall, put your GPS's on when you two are ready".

"Got it Eris and thanks". He had quickly responded. "Oh Eris one more thing" He had said to her. "What is it?" Balon had walked over to her and whispered in her ear, "Only transmat Kaner". He had said and quickly walked back hoping she would follow through. Once Eris had left Kaner had spoke up, "Why didn't you say goodbye?". _I knew this would come up, just… did it have to be the first thing he said to me?_ "I'm sorry, I just didn't know how to tell you". "So you thought not telling me was better? I thought you were dead until Eris had told me 2 weeks later where you were." Kaner had fired back. "No, but I knew you wouldn't agree with it" He had said. "So then why did you do it? And I swear if you say it was for Dad I will leave right no-" "WHY DO YOU GIVE A SHIT IF IT WAS FOR DAD? I am entitled to do what I believe is right, you might not have liked him but that doesn't mean that you can make me not like him either." Balon had quickly shut him down. "He was a lunatic and you know that" "HE WAS OUR SAVIOR, unlike **her** , he kept us alive and well, he was the closest thing that I had to a parent, all **she** ever did was lean on and suck off other people, **she** is weak and we deserved so much better." Balon had shouted at Kaner, who now backed off. "Fine, I guess I won't judge you on your decisions, and your not wrong about **her** either, trust me we both agree on that. So let's just forgive each other, remember no matter what, **life moves on**." Kaner had said. "Huh, one of dad's quotes, that's one way to get me on board, and yea I forgive you about your opinions and what you said. Balon said looking him in the eyes with a sly grin on his face. "And I forgive you about what you did, you ready to head back across the wall?" Kaner had questioned. "Yea sure but together" He picked up his GPS "Just remember one thing." "What is is?" Kaner had questioned as he picked up his and set it on. "We have each other, no matter what happens, so understand why I'm doing this… goodbye." And with that Kaner had been transmatted and Balon had began to run away from the wall, he knew that he had to get away now that he had left his Brother behind again. _I hope he understands._ He had thought.


	13. Shiro-4

It wasn't until dawn that he had started to hear chatter on his radio pop back up as he neared the site of the Vex timegate. _Shiro is probably already there waiting for me to show up, he won't be expecting me so early so I guess I can check around the area for any other signs of Vex activity._ Balon had thought to himself. It took him around 3 hours but after circling the entire perimeter he had finally found something else, a note on a Vex hobgoblin's head reading the words, "Find me in the timestream if you would like to know more about the Vex and their secrets, I can even teach you a thing or two about how to traverse the void, just remember, the Vex have no hope. No imagination, no drive, no fear. All they have is the pattern. Everything must fit. If it can be made to fit, good. If it can't, it gets cut away. Don't get cut away". _Very strange indeed that a note like this would be here in the middle of nowhere, especially with no context of what is being talked about, almost like this was meant for someone._ Balon had thought to himself, he finally decided that his search was concluded and headed towards the cave where Shiro would be. He had just met up with him outside the cave, around them were the bodies of Fallen that he and the Stranger had killed. "Impressive work Guardian, you took out quite a few from outside the cave, must of took a while." Shiro had said looking impressed at Balon's work. "Yea, took me around half an hour to clear out all the Fallen around here, but I managed just fine." Balon had said wanting to keep the Stranger's presence unknown, it just felt like the right thing to do as she clearly didn't want to get involved with the Vanguard. "Well anyways I was looking at the timegate and it seems functional, which is unfortunate because that means they can come through anytime." Shiro had said, "So what do you make of the situation, how do we shut this down before it grows to big?" Balon had asked. "Simple, we get some guardians to go through and rig up explosives on the other end, that should work." Shiro had said, almost like he had done this before which Balon knew that no one in the Tower has had to do before. "Do we really think that will stop it?" He had again asked. "Most likely, but it's worth a shot, I'll call up Ikora and get her to send her 'hidden' out here to get this done." Shiro had said. _Better hope this works._


	14. Step Into The Void

Balon had woken up sweaty and panicked as he had a bad dream, this dream consisted of images of his Sister, Father, friends and other people he had known dying, all right in front of him, he had relived all of their deaths in the span of one nightmare. _Why are these memories coming back up? Why now, when I need to focus to defend the city._ He had thought to himself as he got up from his makeshift bed, they had slept in Shiro's ship last night, Shiro had taken the cockpit while Balon had taken the cargo space. Balon slowly walked towards the cockpit door where the button to lower the ramp was located. Balon pressed the button and walked down the ramp as it was lowering having little regard for the shaking the ramp was producing, he knew it wouldn't break and fall under him because Shiro kept good care of his ship. Once he was outside he quickly acknowledged the chilly breez that was constantly blowing and went straight for the cave in which the timegate was located, once he had entered the cave he had seen something odd, out of place that wasn't there the day before, it was a ring with a ruby that had multiple triangles engraved in it, kind of reminds him of his sister's ring that she used to have… _My sister._ He decided that he shouldn't bother himself with those thoughts anymore. Something wasn't right though, it felt as if nothing was moving, he stepped back outside and looked up at the clouds, _Motionless_ and then he noticed that he couldn't feel any wind like there was when he walked down the ramp of Shiro's ship. _Wait what is happening?_ He thought as he went up the ramp and pressed the button to pull the ramp back up, the button pressed in and just as he expected the ramp didn't even move, after he let go of the button it stayed pressed in place almost like it had been… _frozen in time._ Everything suddenly clicked in his mind as he realized that time had stopped and he was still moving even after everything else stopped. He waited for hours to see if time would start continue, yet it never did. He began to wonder what he would do when he looked at the active timegate which was still activated. _No that's- that's crazy it would be suicide to jump into that_. But then he remembered the Stranger and how she did without a second thought. _They said going in alone would cause a person to get stuck in the timeline, at least after what happened to Praedyth._ But maybe it was because of the way the Vault of Glass was designed. So he stood up and walked over to the gate, standing in front of it he turned around and admired the still beauty that the world had taken on after time had stopped, but he couldn't admire it for long as he felt a sudden pressure and tug on his right shoulder as he was pulled backwards, into the gate, **into the void**.


	15. The Void's Inner Workings

The feeling was unexplainable, it felt like his entire body had been ripped wide open then put back together all at once, he saw unexplainable things, the first most noticeable was the darkness that surrounded him, but it wasn't anything that surrounded him, it was a void, a pocket of nothingness in between the dimensions that worlds existed in, it was like a whole new world that didn't exist. The next thing that he saw was visions, none of them made sense to him, they were events and timelines that either had happened may happen or will never happen, possibilities that went outside his simple way of thinking, ideas that he thought weren't possible turning into a reality right in front of him then vanishing as if they had never existed. It was all so confusing to him, nothing made sense yet it all did at the same time. The next thing he knew he was inside of a cave, the same cave that he had entered the portal in but something felt different, when he had breathed in the air felt, cleaner in a way almost as if the pollution that had happened during the golden age never existed. _Wait I just travelled back in time._ The realization had hit him hard, he realized next that someone had pulled him in, he turned around and saw her, the Stranger. "So, we meet again Balon, how was your first experience of time travel, did you experience any turbulence? Heh." She had joked with him. "I'm so… so confused, what did I see? None of that made sense yet strangely it did at the same time." He had said while shaking his head and looking at the ground. Yea that is the same thing with everyone, took me almost a year to stop getting so freaked out, still feels weird today but not as alien as it was a few years ago." She said. ¨Wait, you just said that you have been doing this for a few years?¨ He questioned. "Well yea, but I guess time is a pretty relative term". She said. "So what now then?" he questioned. "We go to the Vault of Glass, we will find Praedyth there." She took off towards a ship that was docked right around where Shiro's was, Balon had followed her, "Wait, I thought no one could find Praedyth, they searched all of the Vault for him." He had said while swiftly walking behind the Exo woman. "Yes, that was then, we are in a different time, the one that he is in, I have been in contact with him for the past few years, before he went into the Vault, ever since he went in I had gone searching for him and found him around a year ago, been relaying info ever since." She said, "And how have you been doing that?" He questioned. "You'll find out soon enough, let's just say that we had more help with that." She said. _More help? What does that even mean?_ He had thought. "Let's get going, we don't have any time to waste."


	16. The Shipyard

The first issue that they had to face was finding a ship capable of breaking orbit and getting to Venus, the Exo Stranger had told Balon that the ship she had could not break orbit and that there was an old shipyard that would be investigated by the Vanguard in the next few coming weeks, in that time they could take one of the ships and put it back at before the Vanguard investigates to keep the time events the same. The two of them had gotten to the shipyard and started to look through the ships, they found one quickly that would work, it was an Arcadian-Class Jumpship, not the ones used for major transport, but a fighter ship, the Exo Stranger said that the guns were working and could provide an advantage for them. It took them around a day to patch it up and jump start it, the process would have been much easier with a ghost but she wasn't a Guardian and Balon's had died a while ago, "This thing must be from Rahool, all the crap that he pulls out of those glowy pieces of shit, all of them come out so crap, other than that one nice pair of gauntlet's I have on me right now, they're pretty good actually." Balon had said "They look old" she said, "Rahool looks old" He said with a smirk and even the Exo Stranger had laughed at that. "You must hate him or something". She said. "I do... a lot." He responded. The Exo and Balon had joked a bit more before getting back to work on the ship. "So why do the Vanguard need to check for ships, the first Guardian isn't supposed to be found until a week after." He said. "I don't know, it is odd though, they don't need to worry about interplanetary travel for the next 2 years." She said. "Maybe they lied, and Guardians already do exist, just in secret, scared of their unknown powers." She said. "Maybe they're from the future like us." He said. The Exo looked at him with a cocked head and a slightly confused look. "What it was just an idea." He said without her even saying anything. "I never said that was a bad theory, to be honest I never even thought about that, you could be right, but that's not our concern." She said. The rest of the day was spent preparing for the trip to Venus, they tested the guns and secured the area around the ship another time, ensuring that there were no Fallen nearby.


	17. Tiring Dreams

He had awoken in a strange, yet strangely familiar place. Grass, trees and a wall that seemed to stretch miles surrounded him, judging by the curve of the wall, it appeared that he was on the outside of it and not the inside. Suddenly a voice could be heard shouting, it sounded feminine and familiar as well, however it sounded very distant and he could barely make out the words "Vojtac! Where are you?" Balon rose to his feet and decided it would be best to ignore the woman as she didn't sound close and it was not his name being called. He walked further along the wall and had concluded that he was definitely not in Old Russia any more, wherever this was, it must have been closer to the equator as Old Russia would have snow covering the place. He took a good look at the wall and realized that he could see a gate up ahead. _Probably the entrance._ He thought to himself, the gate was made out of what looked to be trash bins and old torn off metal bars. _Survivors?! I didn't even know that there were any alive outside of Old Russia anymore._ He thought, as he started a light jog towards the gate up ahead. As he looked through the gate he saw Hive, in the hundreds all around the inside of the wall. He slowly backed away knowing if they saw him he would most likely be dead, he drew his gun only to find it replaced with a simple Scout Rifle with the words "Thoren Imanu" inscribed on it. _Why do I have this, where's my gun? Wait does that say Thoren?"_ Thoren was his father's name but his last name was also Rener, just like his was. Suddenly from behind a voice that sounded like the one he heard only a few minutes ago called out right behind him. "There you are! We have to go, Devin is dead and we will be too if we stay here! We have to go meet up with Mikary, she's with Kan-" and suddenly everything went black on him. Only a few minutes later did his eyes start to work again as he saw the Exo Woman in the pilot seat of the ship.


	18. Trust Falters

He slowly gathered his bearings as he readjusted to the reduced lighting of the ship and after a few minutes of resting sat up from the row of seats he was laying on, as he did this the Exo Stranger was heard talking to someone and he decided he would eavesdrop on her, he laid back done as he heard her conversation. "Yes, I am aware of the circumstances we are in, but I do believe this will be most beneficial to our cause. The Vanguard have no idea that he is gone right now except for Shiro but it will take him days to get back to the city without a properly working ship, yes I made sure it wouldn't work tested it while they were both out cold sleeping, speaking of which Balon still is." _Wait she sabotaged Shiro's ship? And what does she mean her cause and the circumstances that they are in?_ "Give us 5 days and we will return to Spearhead, I can guarantee that this is going to be worth our time, he is an excellent fighter with more than a few tricks up his sleeve, plus he might already agree with our cause. Listen he might not be so agreeable at first but he'll learn to like communities, especially if it consists of a few familiar faces, they'll convince him, I'm sure of it." _Familiar faces? Community? The hell is going on here?_ He thought as she continued to speak through what looked to be some sort of glove equipment. "I'll keep this up for the next few days then tell him, and if he doesn't agree? Then I'll have to show him for himself… listen he's shown trust in me so far so I think he'll trust me with this, listen I'll contact you after we get Praedyth, and hopefully for the last time, I don't know how he keeps getting caught, but glad that he can find some way with the Vex tech to communicate with us, we would be nowhere without him and his revelations. Signing off". She ended the conversation and pressed a button on the control panel as she got up from the chair to turn around to Balon "sleeping" on the chairs.


	19. The Life of Lies (Mega Chapter)

Just wanted to drop in a quick authors note, I understand that I have been away for a while. I have been experiencing major writer's block and multiple other priorities in the past few months. This is the content that I have not gotten the chance to publish yet and had written up. (Concluding the first half of the story so far of Baking Rener.) I hope you enjoy this special chapter and please share this with anyone else who you may think is interested in content like this. As always, enjoy.

As she stepped over to him he had begun to act as if he was just waking up, first he had moved his arms slightly before rolling over slightly to slowly open his eyes and yawn. "Have a good rest?" she asked. "I did actually, um, when did I fall asleep" he said while looking around and sitting up. "Just when we uhh boarded the ship you sat down and we were uhh talking when you had-had fallen asleep." She said while staring away from him, he noticed that her right leg was fidgeting the entire time while telling him this. _She's lying, but why? What happened to this Exo that I could trust?_ He thought while starting a response. "How long was I asleep for?". "Around 7 hours, it's basically 5 in the morning now". "And you've managed to stay up for this long?" He asked. "Well while most Exo's might need to power down for a bit, let's just say that I'm not a normal Exo. I've been redesigned for combat and tactical thinking." She had said. "Well I can definitely tell that you are not the average Exo, that's for sure." He had responded with a chuckle. "Well whoever my creators were definitely knew how to build an Exo." She said while smirking. "You got any other tricks up your sleeve?" He questioned hoping that she would tell him. "Well a few, you wanna see some?" She questioned while looking at him. "Sure show me what you got." He responded. The Exo Stranger tapped something on her glove and suddenly disappeared, he looked around him and saw her under his seat. "H-how did you- what!?" He responded shocked as he stood up from his seat. "Simple, well not really." She said and disappeared again and appearing right in front of him instantaneously. "What the fuck is this? Can you teleport?" He asked while slightly freaking out. "No, I can't teleport, but I can get from one place to another instantaneously to everyone else" She

had said. "What do you mean, 'to everyone else'?" He had questioned. "It's complicated to explain, but not to experience, in fact you've already experienced it." She had said. "But I haven't done that… teleport thing ever." He said even more confused now. "Remember before you went through the time gate?". "Yea, it just happened, well I guess it's going to happen since it was before I went in." He said while making a slight chuckle to himself. "Heh-yeah well what happened right after you walked into that cave?" She had hinted at. "Everything felt motionless, almost as if time had stopped on me." He said while starting to piece things together. "Exactly, that is what happened, time had stopped at that point and you for some reason managed to push through that time rift, well it didn't happen by accident, I had to extract you somehow." She had explained. "Oh my, so I was right, but how did you stop time?" He had questioned. "This gauntlet allows me to freeze certain areas in time, I can also allow other life forms to keep moving through the time rift, but the weird part was that I didn't make you able to bypass the rift, yet you did." She said while staring at him with narrowed eyes. "That is quite strange that happened, but why wasn't I able to see you moving if you froze this area in time when you showed me your abilities?" He had questioned. "Might happen selectively, maybe you just have a power locked deep inside you and it has just started to emerge, I should look into that actually." She had said moreso to herself as she trailed off topic. "Anyways we touch down on the Venus exclusion zone in 10 hours, you can fly and make sure we don't crash, you have gotten enough sleep as it is." She had joked and lied down beside him. "You're not wrong about that, have a nice charge I guess?" He had said awkwardly and received a grin from the Exo as he went to the cockpit.

He was sitting in the cockpits chair, looking out at the stars as they passed by the gunship. _So peaceful, if only the golden age could have lasted_. He thought to himself as he put his hand up to the glass. _Maybe, maybe I could get Kaner out to the mountain with me, it would be nice to have him there._ While he still prefered being a lone wolf, the idea of having someone who he trusts with him was comforting. _Wow, shocking that even in the past the planets still look the same, but we made a lot of progress. The Vex cannot reverse that, there was a saying once, said by someone who traversed the Vault. "Guardians make their own fate" I sure as hell will make mine._ Just as he was thinking that the radar lit up with different enemies entering the nearby space. "Fuck, HEY EXO WE GOTTA MOVE!" He shouted as he started to go faster. In a few seconds the Exo was right beside him looking at the radar. "Okay shit, I didn't think they would find us this fast." She said. "Who are they?" He questioned while taking the manual control. "The Fallen House of Specters, before the battle of the Twilight Gap they were predominant in Venus, even more then the House of Winter. But they converted splitting between the Kings and the Devils once they arrived at the Battle." She said while moving to the turret seat up above. "Are there any of them left, like in the present?" He questioned while spotting one of the Fallen skiffs. "8'O CLOCK SKIFF FIRE!" He shouted as he started searching for more of them. The Exo Stranger locked and fired. "Not that I'm aware of, probably like the House of Rain, extinct now." She said as she waited for Balon's next callout. "Interesting, 6'O CLOCK DIRECTLY BEHIND AND APPROACHING FAST." He shouted. "Shit I won't be able to turn in time you have to evade their attacks, I only need a few seconds." She said. "Shit, ok." He responded as he anticipated when they would fire, almost 5 seconds later he suddenly pulled down and to the left to try and get over them and get an advantage. "Directly beneath" he calmly said as he saw a rocket fly right where they were. "Got em" She said before even firing. The rocket fired out and got a direct hit. "I got 3 on the radar, possibly more further out." He said while determining the next skiffs location. Out of nowhere came a ship right above them and Balon shouted it's location and immediately pulled down on the joystick to get above it, this however was not enough as the ship fired before he could get clear of it's shot. _Fuck_. Right before it hit the ship though the Exo Stranger had shot a rocket and got a direct impact on the other one, effectively blocking it. "Damn now fire another one before we get too cocky." He said while beginning to move toward the next 2 ships, but this time he was ready. As the Exo Stranger was blasting the one skiff he had gone in between the 2 of them. "Balon, what are you DOING?" The Exo said while rotating her gun to point at the one to their right. "Don't worry, I got this" He said. _5,4,3,2-_ and before he could finish he pulled up and went under both the ships as they fired just barely missing him. This caused them to hit each other and explode quite violently. _Never trust your own count, especially when you just told someone to not worry._ One skiff remained and he was to caught up with his thoughts to notice the rocket coming straight at them. "BALON" The Exo yelled as Balon thrust his hands in front of himself to brace for the impact.

But nothing happened, everything remained still as he looked up at the Exo Stranger. "I didn't do that" She said. Time was frozen in front of them and Balon quickly moved the ship out of the way and the Exo had fired a direct shot on the last skiff. "Wha- what just happened? The fuck?" He said as he put his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes shocked at what he had just witnessed. "I think someone was looking out for us, because that wasn't me, my glove was still charging." She had said and looked at him slightly suspicious. "Yea, I think we owe someone a thanks, lets just get to the Vault before anything else happens, I don't think we have much luck left in us. The Exo agreed and walked to the back of the ship as Balon plotted the course to Venus again, he put it on auto-pilot and went to the back to lay down. _What just even happened, I swear this shit never ends._ There was nothing he could think of that made sense to him other then one thing. _Was it me?_ The thought sent shivers down his spine as he looked again at the Stranger resting behind him. _Or was it her? She still might be lying to me._ He thought to himself as he laid down and put his hand infront of his face. _That would be useful, being able to freeze time in an area, could be very resourceful in battle._ He thought. Just then he began to feel a slight rumble in his right hand, looking at it more intensely he was able to see a very faint and ominous purple glow coming out of it. Right on the back of his right hand was a symbol of what looked to be a mix of shapes with a faint purple glow outlining them. _The hell? No way._ But this was not a joke, as he rubbed his eyes and looked at the mark again. He heard the Exo shift behind him and pulled down his gauntlets sleeve to hide the mark. "I've been thinking a bit, the ship might have been tagged in that skirmish, we are possibly being tracked right now. We need to get to Venus as fast as possible so I'm going to take the wheel and manually control it, I need you to get to the lower deck and see if you can tinker with the thrusters to enhance the power of them, I know they used to build these things with a safety cord so let's hope this isn't the fastest this thing can go." She said and with only a nod Balon had left to the lower deck. "Balon?" She had more lightly asked as he was leaving. "Yea?" He responded looking back. "I just wanted to say, thanks. Seriously without your help right now I don't think I can get Praedyth out of the Vault, and also for you trusting me." She had said. "It's fine, but I have been wondering something, do you trust me?" He asked back. "Of course" she responded. "Ok, thanks" and with that he went to the lower level.

The lower deck was dark, very dark. Balon had pulled out a flashlight from the satchel on his back and flicked it on. The light shone out in a cone shape in front of him, revealing the huge amount of dust particles in the air. _Holy shit, it is dusty down here._ He shined the light around and found the thrusters by the back of the room. He got down on his knees and put the light on a nearby shelf so he could see and have both his hands available. "So she said there was some sort of 'safety cord' on this thing." He said aloud to himself as he lowered himself so he could see underneath the thruster. _Nope, nothing here, maybe it's on the other side._ He got up and moved to the other side taking the light with him and put it atop a metal barrel. "Ok then". He got down on his knees and started looking for this 'safety cord'. _Where is it?_ "Oh wait, what's that?" He thought and then questioned aloud. "I think that's it!" He said excitedly as he held a white cord attached to a bottom thruster that looked like it wasn't in use. _I guess all I do is pull now._ As he was thinking that he began to pull and after a few light tugs he dismantled the white cord. _That should do it._ Almost as soon as he thought that the thruster had sparked to life and started to emit a low hum. "Well I guess that's that." He said as he started to walk towards the ladder to the seating area. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of the mysterious glow on his hand once again, it seemed to be shining brighter now and resonating. He reached out with his hand in front of his face and the mark started to surge faster as he started to move it to the nearby corner to his right. His vision shifted and instead focused on the corner behind his outstretched arm, in that very corner laid a small signet that glowed the same shade of purple as the mark on his hand and was resonating in sync with it. He couldn't quite make out what that signet represented but he wanted to find out, no he felt like he needed to find out, almost as if it were calling for his name. He began to slowly move closer to it and found that the closer he got the harder it became to move, he could now even see what the signet looked like. It looked like there was a small circle with 4 blades surrounding it in a diamond like shape engraved into the top of the ring. He got so close that he could now pick the signet up, he reached out with his left hand and the second he made contact he felt a burning sensation on every part of his hand that was touching the signet. He quickly retracted his left hand and attempted to pick it up with his right, the one with the mark. His hand hovered right above the signet and slowly enclosed around it, prepared to pull his hand back he winced as he made contact, but nothing happened, he moved the ring closer to his face and studied it, the circle and blades seemed to be a bit roughly carved which were similar to the other Fallen house symbols. He decided that he might as well put it on, so he slowly slid it onto his ring finger on his right hand. At first nothing happened but the farther he slid it on the tighter is began to feel around his finger, eventually he reached the farthest the ring would go and he heard a small click. With that sound came something he would never forget. He felt pain, pain everywhere, a tugging on every limb he had, almost as if an invisible force was going to tear him apart, his mind was invaded with dark images and visions, death, misery, torture, and even agony seemed to be the themes of these images and visions. Everyone he had ever seen there was a vision of them being tortured and dying. Every. Single. Person. Suddenly it stopped and he sunk to his knees not able to comprehend what he had just experienced, the ring and the mark on his hand had started to glow brighter and brighter, almost blindingly. There was a voice in his head, one that he did not recognize, a thought that was not his. _**You may not realize it now Balon, but we have been watching and waiting, you may elude us for now but we will find you. You hold the key to this universe and the power to bring everything together, or to bring everything to it's knees. This power that you hold is that of a god, we will meet soon and you will learn of your true potential.**_ And with that the voice had faded out, leaving him confused and dazed, he looked back to his hand and the ring but they were no longer glowing. He tried to take the ring off but it was stuck. _Shit, how am I going to hide this?_ He thought to himself and figured the Exo would get suspicious if he stayed down there for too long. He decided that he would say that it was a gift from his father and he keeps it in his satchel, it was sort of like a… good luck charm.

He climbed back up the ladder still visibly shaken from what had just happened and tried to regain his composure before he got to the top rung. Luckily the Exo was sitting in the cockpit and didn't see his initial arrival. He figured he would lay down and try to recover from the previous incident. Still no matter how hard he tried those words kept running through his head and he was baffled by their true meaning. The thoughts were jumbled for him right now and he just needed to rest. With that he closed his eyes and started to drift off into a more peaceful realm as everything went to black. "Vojtac? Are you awake?" A voice he strangely recognized asked him. "Yea, I'm up." He responded as he rolled over to face whoever was talking to him. "Good, after that fight with the Hive I wasn't sure if you were gonna wake up." Balon rolled over and looked at the person talking to him, it was his brother, Kaner. "Kaner?! Is that you? And what did you mean by if I was gonna wake up?" Balon had asked very confused as to how he was with Kaner right now. His mind was not currently aware of the fact he was dreaming, his subconscious mind was running everything but he didn't realize it. "Well your head took a pretty heavy blow when that thrall almost pierced your skull. And of course I'm here, I'm surprised you didn't ask why Mom isn't here." He responded. "Mom? Kaner what are you talking about we left her a long time ago for good reasons." Balon said angrily. "Vojtac, you need to rest. Seriously I think that head injury is messing with you." He said. "Why do you keep calling me Vojtac, my name is Balon. Kaner do you not remember me?" He questioned with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Vojtac, I'm gonna go grab Thoren and maybe he can help you remember what's going on." _Thoren, no my Dad is dead._ He thought and quickly questioned Kaner further. "Kaner, Thoren is dead, he died to the hive back in the Cosmodrome." "Thoren isn't dead he's doing very well actually even though he's sick." Kaner said back to Balon. And it was at that moment that Balon realized that he was in a dream, he looked back at Kaner and imagined that Gjallahorn that one of his raid team members used and it popped into his hands he aimed and fired at Kaner, knowing that right now he wanted out of this dream. Kaner and the entire mountain exploded into smoke as Balon coughed and fell for what seemed like hours. Eventually he landed on what looked to be wall of the city and looked out at the city and the landscape outside of the wall, this sparked an idea in his head on how to mess around while he was dreaming. He began a glide into the air but it never ran out like it usually did, he was able to keep gliding around the air going faster and faster. Eventually he got the city and started to form a Nova Bomb in his hand, once this was fully developed and bigger than a regular Nova Bomb he filled it with Hammers of Sol, around 100 of them were floating in that expanse of void. He launched this at the city and it split into 20 different but not smaller ones, he was ecstatic as they launched towards the last city. Once they impacted he saw 20 different huge explosions happening around the city, this caused the now 2000 Hammers of Sol to launch high into the air and spread around the remaining parts of the city. Each of these caused a Fist of Havoc explosion to happen on impact absolutely leveling everything in sight, the explosion was so huge that it even destroyed the surrounding walls of the city. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" He screamed out laughing as he absolutely lost control of his own sanity and began going around Old Russia destroying everything. He needed to **let go,** he needed **this.** _No this isn't me, what am I doing? What is wrong with me?_ He began to wonder as he started to slowly drift to the ground, but eventually stopped gliding and fell until he impacted, slowly fading to black. He woke up with a start, quickly looking back and forth around the hangar, the exo was still resting so he assumed he hadn't been asleep for too long. _What was that dream? I swear I lost control of myself when I realized the power I had._ _ **So Much Power.**_

The thoughts of his mind were scattered around like a deck of cards that had just been tossed up into the air and left to flutter down to the ground where they would rest, separated from each other. He was remembering the previous events that had just unfolded and quickly checked the mark on his hand. It wasn't glowing as bright this time and it was barely distinguishable from the rest of his skin tone, but it was there. His eye caught sight of the signet that he had put on that same hand and looked towards it, he studied it closer. After several minutes of investigating the strange ring he decided he would try to pull if off. As he reached for it and began to tug a blinding purple light shot out from the ring and began to burn his hand trying to take it off, he quickly pulled back his hand and looked again at the ring, the light now gone and the outlines of the ring glowing a faint purple. _Shit, how do I hide this? Fuck it I'll just tell her what happened. Maybe she'll know about it._ He thought to himself as he got up out of the chairs he had been sleeping in and started to walk over to the exo. "Awake already I see?" She said as she sat up to look at him. "Yea, I didn't get much sleep. When should we be at Venus?" He asked the exo. She looked at a holographic timer she had on her gauntlet, "In around 15 minutes." She said as she got up to go to the cockpit of the ship. "Listen there's something I have to tell you about, and I'm hoping that you might know something about it I don't." Balon said while grasping one of the exo's arms in his hand. "What is it? I should be able to tell you something about it." She said. "It's this right here." He said as he rose his right hand, the one that wasn't holding the exo's arm and showed the back of his hand to the Exo. "So what can you tell me about this?" He asked to her, the exo in response just stood there and looked down at the ground with one of her fists clenched. He could see that she had some form of knowledge about what this mark was due to her body language. "That, mark that THING you hold on the back of your hand is the symbol of the Trinity." She said looking back up to Balon in his eyes, hers clearly filled with some form of distrust. "What does that mean?" He asked her. "That means that you are the descendant of one of the Elders of the Genesis Clan, the ones that have killed those around me many times and raided countless settlements just to get supplies to survive and further their belief." She said while yanking her arm free of his hand. "What? How is that possible? I never grew up in a place like that. My family were proud members of the City and my Father died fighting for it!" Balon responded. "This mark doesn't matter, I can see that you are a good soul but just know that either your Mother or Father were a part of this group, and since your Father died fighting for the City, I say your Mother is a pretty good bet." She said while walking to the cockpit. "I guess it does make sense, she always told me not to trust the City, but I was never fully aware why. She said that soon they would be overrun and we would die if we stayed in there. I got to leave since I was a Guardian but she and Kaner couldn't. They wouldn't survive." He said while nodding his head in disappointment. "I haven't even told you the worst part, they were working against the City and the Traveler, planning on launching an attack against it. They hoped that if they destroyed it then the Darkness would go away because there would be no reason to stay. The only issue is if we get rid of the Traveler and our Ghosts stop working without it's Light, but the Darkness stays we will for surely lose." She said. _I should tell her about the Ring and the Voice._ He thought, "Listen-" He was quickly interrupted. "If you ever hear any voices inside your head, anything at all that makes you do something you don't want to. Tell me. Apparently the Genesis Clan managed to make contact with one of the Fallen houses, although we're not sure which one. They should not be trusted because we're not sure of their motives." She said. _Shit, if they don't like whoever this voice is they will not like me at all. I need to keep this to myself or else they may kill me for their own protection._ He thought to himself, "Okay I'll let you know." He said and nodded to her. "Good, we'll be landing soon, get your stuff ready." She said and Balon went to go get his bag with his belongings.

They finally landed on Venus, after a few days of travelling they had finally arrived at their destination, Balon now with a few more doubts and conspiracies before he left however. He still kept with the Exo Stranger, she didn't seem bad at all, but that call made him worried about her. _She might be dangerous! She could be leading you into a trap, she might have know about you being a part of the Genesis Clan all along, she did say she studied you after all!_ Balon thought to himself, even if he didn't like that possibility, he still considered it to be true. The atmosphere on Venus in the past was much more different than that of the future, he could still hear birds chirping around, some of the buildings on the Shattered Coasts looked more intact than in the future. One thing Balon noticed immediately was the Vex ruins and technology about the place, they were still there, even more out in the open than in the future. "Almost like they grew, ignoring the flow of time completely." The Exo Stranger said, chuckling to herself quietly. "Yea, the Vex definitely don't care for the laws of space and time." Balon responded back to the Exo. They walked for what felt like hours, but in reality it was 40 minutes. Not much dialogue was exchanged between them, awkward silence felt louder than any time they spent talking. Balon could not stop looking at her however, still wondering what she was really up to. He was going to find out though, he knew he would. After the walk to the Waking Ruins they finally made it, standing right outside the Vault of Glass, the door closed. The Exo looked about the Ruins, supposedly she was searching for Sync Plates that would build a Spire to open the door. After 10 minutes she gave up on her search, they were no longer there. "Shit, if the Sync Plates are gone then we can't get in." She said while walking back and forth with her arms behind her head, clearly trying to think of what to do next. "Maybe they just changed locations, they may be anywhere around here." Balon said while shrugging. "You may be right, stay here and guard the entrance, I'll be back soon." And with that the Exo stranger was off, walking around aimlessly looking for some rings that would open up a big door. Balon sighed and turned around to face the door behind him. _**This is your moment Balon, it is time to find out what you truly are.**_ The mysterious voice inside his head spoke out to him, and his ring began to emit a very bright light. _Shit, what is going on?!_ Balon thought, struck with panic. Suddenly everything went black for a few seconds, next thing he knew he was standing in front of a few vandals, 4 to be exact, all holding up their blades to his neck. Balon knew he wasn't going to win this fight, so he put his hands up slowly and asked one question, "So who am I then?"


	20. The Voice Eludes Him

Balon looked past the vandals holding him hostage, to see a horde of Fallen on the other side of the cave he was in, in the middle was a very large looking Fallen. _The leader_. He thought. "So? Who am I?" Balon asked again this time putting a bit more intensity into his question to emphasise its importance. "I will tell you this Balon, you are not a regular Guardian, you were born with certain, 'characteristics' that relate you to our species." A voice responded to him. Balon looked around, none of the Fallen had said that. "Who said that? Where are you?" Balon asked, again looking around. Finally a Warlock pushed his way through the crowd of Fallen, even waving off the vandals keeping him in his position. This mysterious Warlock came right up to him and began to introduce himself. "I was that voice you just heard, and consider yourself lucky, not many know I still live, of course the Exo you were just with does and her people do as well. The name is Praedyth, and we are standing just on the other side of that door the Exo was figuring out how to open." He said while reaching out his hand, looking back up at me and jetting out his arm further. Balon looked at his hand and reluctantly shook it and then questioned him further. "What do you mean 'was' figuring out how to open?" Balon asked. "Well it is quite simple actually, we pulled you into the future, by around 4 hours, she has already left and is now going back to her base to report her failure and loss of precious cargo." Praedyth answered and then began again, "Before you ask what that precious cargo is, it is you. And I don't want her to obtain this cargo because there you are the only other one like me." He said. "How am I like you? People know I am alive, I don't live in the past and I can use every classes abilities, you are just a Warlock." Balon said. "We are similar, everyone questions if you are alive out in the wild similar to how the Exo's people do. You are living in the past right now, and I am not just a Warlock. I can also use other classes abilities, I just never showed it off like you did." He said. "Prove it then, make a Hammer of Sol right now." Balon said and to emphasise it he created one in his left hand. The Fallen were visibly worried and began to look between each other and Balon. Praedyth sighed and suddenly created one in his left hand as well, holding it up to the air and then letting it fade away. "Well, I'll be damned, fine maybe we are the same, but how am I like them? I'm human, and they are Fallen." Balon said while pointing to the group of Fallen behind Praedyth. "Balon, you may find this hard to believe, but when you were born, before joining the light your 'Mother', and 'Father' weren't you thought they were. They were actually Fallen, from the House of Spectres, but you were a Human strangely so they left you in the woods of Old Russia, nearby a settlement. The same happened to me, except I still remember it, and I remember you as well. I told them to do it because I didn't want you to grow up like I did. Your human parents took you in as an orphan, with your Brother and Sis- just your Brother already as their own." Praedyth explained. "Sister! What do you mean Sister? Even Kaner said we never had one." Balon said. "Kaner, doesn't remember it either, none of your family does, and I cannot tell you why you don't recall the event." Praedyth said. "What event? Why can't you tell me?" Balon asked. "Because then you would die." Praedyth ended and began walking deeper into the cave, followed by the rest of the Fallen house. "Come on, let's go." He said and ushered Balon to come with him.

The next few days were a mystery to Balon, even he questioned if they really happened at all. He spent most of his time alone, laying in a bed trying to get rest, but it was came rarely. Eventually he gave up trying to ignore the fallen and Praedyth and had a conversation with Praedyth. All of his thoughts were so confusing and he didn't know what to trust anymore; the words of Praedyth, or his own memories. Apparently he had a sister that no one in his family could remember, yet somehow Praedyth knew about her. He began to enjoy conversing with the older Warlock, starting to be able to relate more to him and their similar relations, but he still had his doubts about him, about the Exo Stranger, really about everything. Finally a time came where Praedyth did something with Balon, he led him deeper into the cave, into the area known as the Trial of Kabr, and showed him just how unique he was. Praedyth instructed Balon to hold out his right hand and concentrate on the space around him, Praedyth kept relaying his instructions to Balon and constantly reminded him to focus, yet he never told him what he should focus on. Midway through Praedyth's comments his voice cut out, and Balon looked back to see him standing there motionless, he waved a hand in front of him and got no response. Balon had an idea of what was going on so he picked up a rock and held it up high and let go of it, yet it didn't fall. This confirmed Balon's suspicions, he had managed to stop time. He looked back to his right hand, the mark and signet were glowing brightly, and he heard a voice inside of his head. _**Very good Balon, I see you were able to discover your real power. Now that you know more about who you truly are and what you can do I want you to tell me something, who do you still trust?**_ And with that the voice faded out. Balon was left standing there next to Praedyth, still frozen. He concentrated and Praedyth started to move again immediately, continuing to talk until he saw Balon facing him, hearing the rock thud against the ground behind Balon. "Well I'll be damned, you are really a spectre aren't you?" Praedyth said with a smug grin on his face. "Why are you shocked, you told me all of this, you already knew I was one, even before I did." Balon said. "The thing is, I was never sure of it, the voice inside of me had told me you were and I had my suspicions previously but this confirms it." Praedyth said and with that he started to walk away. _Wait he's not the voice?_ _ **Thought you found me yet? I promise Balon we will meet soon, but I need more time and you still need to answer me that question I asked you.**_ This voice told him again and faded, Balon pondered on it for a second then followed Praedyth back to where the rest of the Fallen house was.


	21. Unanswered Questions

Quick Author's Note (Should have put this on the last post): Wow! It has been a long time since my last post on this series, don't think I've forgotten, just merely taken a year long break to find myself and reaffirm my existence in this world! No, but seriously, I'm hoping to be back for a bit and continue this story to see where it goes. While it doesn't get a lot of attention and the chapter's are short, I really appreciate every person who reads this and leaves and feedback. If you're new I would recommend reading from the beginning to get a good scale of what's happening as this chapter in particular references elements from other chapters but that's enough talking for now. Enjoy!

Question and an answer in the form of another question was the cycle Balon was trapped in, ever since the Exo's appearance Balon was not getting any closer to a proper answer of the underlying question, how would the City defeat the Vex. While time was still supposedly stopped in the present he wasn't certain that all nefarious deeds had ceased, the Vex were a time and reality travelling race after all. While Praedyth was a man that contained many answers he also brought up more questions, was he lying about who Balon was, while it wasn't completely inconceivable that Balon had Eliksni blood in him it was still hard to believe that it had taken him that long to figure this out. Plus, Praedyth's appearance didn't answer another question of his, _Who is the voice in my head?_ Balon thought to himself as he walked around the cave avoiding any eye contact with the other Fallen around him. They had been curious about him after he entered their home and followed him around most places he went. Praedyth told him that they were just guarding him and making sure he didn't get hurt, but Balon felt like they were keeping him away from something, or someone. Another question Balon had was what he was going to do now on his ultimate goal, to stop the Vex, until further notice he was stuck here with Praedyth and the Fallen. _Was the Exo really going to betray me?_ He thought to himself, he wasn't sure what to believe anymore, all he knew is that he needed to get to the bottom of this, and his next move was going to be to get out of here and infiltrate that Spearhead place the Exo was talking about while he was "asleep", but for now he rested up and he began to devise his plan of escape, as Balon closed his eyes and fell asleep, the voice whispered into his head, _**What's your answer?**_


End file.
